


There Are Some Dents, But We're Working Through Them

by orphan_account



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Abusive Relationships, Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Adoption, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Amnesia, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bittersweet, Bittersweet Ending, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Family Dynamics, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrids, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Lesbian Character, M/M, Memory Loss, Multi, Out of Character, Polyamorous Character, Post-Manberg-Pogtopia War on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending, Shipping, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, This doesnt really have a specific time period its just kinda all over the place, Trauma, Twins, gonna cry brb, hey girl I wrote a sad fanfic, i dont know what im doing lol, im failing school cuz mcyt brainrot go brrrr, k Ill stop with the tags now lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28377312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Uhhh sad shit with Tubbo and Big Q👉👈
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Cara | CaptainPuffy/Niki | Nihachu
Comments: 18
Kudos: 161





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> TW Parents fighting, domestic abuse, panic attacks, implied child abuse, alcoholism, scared Tubbo:(
> 
> My first time posting to A03 pog  
> This is mainly just gonna be me writing what I want and not planning too far ahead lol
> 
> Lmk if I missed anything in the tw. I don't want too accidentally hurt someone by being careless.

Tubbo tucked his head deeper into his arms and hugged his legs tighter. He felt tears roll down his face and hiccupped silently. He knew it would only get worse if he made noise.

Being woken up in the middle of the night to the sounds of smashing bottles and screaming wasn't uncommon, but it didn't make it any less scary. Every time it happened, Tubbo would sit on his bead, covers pulled over his head, and curl into a ball. On mild nights the arguing would last for a few minutes and not escalate. But on the bad nights it would get bad bad. Tubbo would hear glass shattering, screams filled with anger and pain, and more curse words than he knew what to do with, and it would last for hours.

Tubbo hated the bad nights. They made him really really scared. It would get hard to breath, he would get very sweaty, and he would shake a lot. Sometimes he would rub his arms and scratch his face until he bled. Tonight was a bad night.

The young boy couldn't even cry. He had learned the hard way that dadda didn't like when he made noise. It only took two nights for Tubbo to learn to stay quiet. So there he sat. Curled under his blankets. Silently sobbing and waiting for it to end.

Hours later the screaming stopped. Tubbo stayed under his blankets, shaking. He tensed when he heard the door click and creak open. Tubbo's fluffy ears twitched and listened to the footsteps of whoever was entering the room. He immediately recognized the pattern belonged to papa.

He slowly pulled the blankets off his head and stared at his papa. The room was too dark for him to see much, but he recognized the mans familiar outline.

"Papa?" Tubbo croaked. His voice was so small, it made the mans heart break.

"Hey kiddo," papa whispered. He sat on the bed beside his son and wrapped him up in a hug, "sorry 'bout that. I know you hate it when dadda and I fight."

Tubbo leaned into his papa, "s'okay..." he muttered, "m' used ta it."

Papa's heart shattered. His four year old son was used to his dads fighting every night. He pulled the kid closer and willed himself not to cry. 

"Y'know, you can tell me if it's scary. I won't laugh," he said.

The toddler closed his eyes went limp in his papa's warm embrace. He didn't want to talk. Just knowing his papa was there was enough to comfort him. The pair sat together in silence, and eventually Tubbo fell asleep.

The man looked down at his son. He let a few tears spill out now that the boy was asleep. It wasn't fair. Tubbo should be having a good nights sleep. Not waking up every night and listening to his parents fight for hours.

Papa was so grateful for the darkness. He didn't want Tubbo to see the bruises on his arms, or the feathers torn out of his small wings. He didn't want him to see the wet trails down his cheeks. The darkness let him hide these scars, even if only for a moment.

He caressed his sons head and flinched when he felt two small bumps under his hair. His horns. Tubbo wasn't the mans biological kid. He was his step son. His husband, who the kid called dadda, was his biological dad. He didn't know who Tubbo's mom was. He wondered if his husband even knew who she was.

This left Tubbo looking pretty similar to his dadda. They had the same brown hair and brown eyes, of course, but there were more similarities. Just like his dadda, Tubbo was part goat. He had fluffy goat ears; a small, brown tail; horizontal pupils; and tiny, nub horns that were hidden under his fluffy hair.

Sometimes these similarities made it hard for the man to look at his step-son. He knew it was stupid, and he often found himself thinking, "quit it, Alex. He's not him." But he couldn't help it. Usually he could break the fear and discomfort by comparing their eyes. His husbands eyes were narrow and cold. Empty. While Tubbo's were wide and filled with wonder. The horizontal pupils, which were unnerving on his husband, added to the young boys charm.

Another reason Alex loved the darkness. He didn't have to see those beautiful eyes broken and filled with tears.

*

Tubbo opened his eyes and looked up at his papa's sleeping face. He stayed in the embrace for a bit longer before carefully getting out. He managed to not wake his papa which made the little hybrid boy happy. He wanted his papa to sleep as much as possible.

Tubbo stepped out of his room and walked down the hall. His bare feet made barely any noise on the tiled floor. He entered into the living room to see his dadda sprawled on the couch and surrounded by bottles. Tubbo wrinkled his nose at the foul scent of alcohol. He was used to it, but that didn't mean he liked it.

The boy carefully stepped over the broken bottles and picked up the ones he wouldn't hurt himself on. He was really small, even for his age, so he could only hold one bottle at a time. He placed each bottle in a pile off to the side. He knew dadda would be confused when he woke up, and he didn't want him to hurt himself. Papa would help him get rid of the bottles later.

Tubbo picked up the last bottle. It was right beside his dadda. He looked at his sleeping dad. He always looked so angry, even when he was asleep. It made Tubbo sad. He wanted to hug his dadda and make him feel better, but the one time he had tried that hadn't ended well. Dadda didn't like being touched.

Tubbo placed the last bottle in the pile and tottered into the kitchen. He grabbed the step stood and positioned it so he could grab a box of cereal out of the cupboard. Next he went to grab a bowl. He stood on his tiptoes and reached. Were they higher than usual? Tubbo's finger tips wrapped around the edge of the bowl and he pulled it towards himself. The bowl teetered at the edge of the shelf, and Tubbo realized too late what was about to happen.

His eyes widened and he slipped backwards off the stool as he tried to avoid the falling bowl. He landed with a thud on the ground and the bowl followed soon after. The shatter that came from the bowl hitting the ground stopped Tubbo's heart for a moment. He heard the couch creak and he recognized his dadda's footsteps hitting the ground. His dadda had hooves instead of human feet, which made his footsteps very easy to distinguish.

Tubbo scrambled to his knees and tried to quickly clean up the broken glass. He cut his hands on the shards and bit back tears. He froze when the hoofsteps stopped. The boy flattened his ears against his head and flexed his fingers nervously.

"Tubbo," a quietly angry voice said behind him, "what the fuck are you doing."

Tubbo tried to keep his breathing even, "j-j-jus' clean' up a brok'n bowl, dadda," Tubbo stammered quickly.

"Alright, and how did the fucking bowl break," the voice was slightly louder now.

"It f-f-f-f-fell," Tubbo managed to squeak out.

"Stop avoiding the damn question," the voice was now yelling. 

Tubbo flinched and his eyes darted around. He searched for an escape, but found nothing. He was cornered.

"I'll ask you one more time," Tubbo heard the footsteps start again and he felt someone looming over him, "how did the goddamn bowl break."

Tubbo's breath hitched, "I-I-I-" suddenly there was a smash followed by a thud.

Tubbo spun around and saw his dadda lying on the ground. Tubbo scrambled back and didn't notice the glass cutting his hands. He looked up and saw papa standing over dadda with a broken bottle in his hand. He was breathing heavily and the small, yellow duck wings on his lower back were flapping wildly.

Suddenly his eyes widened in fear and he dropped the bottle. His hands were cut up and he glanced between the man on the floor and his son.

"T-tub- I- he-" he covered his mouth and a single sob escaped. Tubbo got to his feet and ran over to his papa. He hugged him, but since he didn't even come up the mans waist he was just wrapped around his legs.

Papa placed his hands on his sons shoulders and felt tears roll down his face. He could see his husband was still breathing. That gave him a little bit of comfort. The man was terrible, but Alex didn't want to become a murderer. 

After standing like that for a few minutes, Alex patted his step-sons back, "c'mon, kid. We gotta get out of here." He picked up the boy and held him tightly to his chest.

Tubbo wrapped his arms around his papa's neck, and buried his face into his shoulder so he didn't have to see his dadda's unconscious body. He let his papa carry him away from their house, and didn't start crying until they were deep in the surrounding forest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big Q tries and fails to steal some carrots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW anxiety attack, disassociation (kinda?)
> 
> Don't think about what time period this is supposed to take place in. It's gonna have a mixture of modern and medieval cuz I'm too lazy to have good word building lol

Alex pulled his hood lower over his face. He felt his stomach twist with anxiety. What was he thinking? What if he got caught? What would happen to Tubbo? He glanced over at the alley his kid was hidden in. He really wasn't prepared for this.

After a few more minutes of stressing, he took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The tiny ding from the bell was insignificant to the rest of the grocery store, but sent his heart racing. The knot in his stomach tightened. He could feel everyone looking at him. Sweat dripped down his back and he resisted the urge to take off his jacket.

He set his sights on a bag of baby carrots in a quiet corner of the store. If he did this right he could get away without any trouble. As he approached the carrots his vision narrowed. The sounds of the store faded and all he heard was his beating heart. He saw his shaking hand reaching for the bag but it didn't feel like his own. His body seemed far away and his head spun. He didn't feel himself grabbing the bag and pulling it into his jacket. It was like he was watching a video of someone else as he turned to leave the store. He was at the exit, about to push open the door when-

A hand on his shoulder sent him flying back into his body. It was like he was waking up from a dream. The knot in his stomach came back like a punch to the gut. His arms were heavy and the bag of carrots was positioned uncomfortably under his jacket.

"Hey, mate, you gonna pay for those?" The person who's hand was on his shoulder spoke. A man, from the sound of it.

Alex slowly turned around, his legs stiff. He faced the man with what he hoped was a natural looking smile. The man was taller than him. He had blonde hair tied in a loose pony tail, and giant greenish-grey wings coming from his back (which made Alex a tiny bit insecure about his own small wings). He didn't look angry. More like a disappointed father.

"I-I," Alex tried searching for an excuse, but decided it was best to come clean, "I don't have any money," he admitted quietly.

The man tilted his head a bit and got a sympathetic look on his face, "look, mate, I wish I could let you take those, but then I'd have to let every other poor fella who comes in here have one and soon I'd be joinin' ya."

Alex was disappointed but not surprised, "right, I'll just put these back." 

Alex walked over to the shelf and placed the carrots back. The man was close behind the whole time, even following him a little out the store. Alex leaned against a nearby street pole and stared at the stores across the road. He could feel the man looking at him, and he knew he was waiting for the duck hybrid to leave. Alex couldn't leave without Tubbo, but he didn't want to risk the boys safety by letting a stranger see him. 

Meanwhile Tubbo was wondering why his papa was just standing there. Why wasn't he coming over? He waited for a bit, but eventually decided to take things into his own hands.

"Papa?" Alex jumped and felt the knot tighten when he saw his four year old son wandering out of the alley. "What's wrong?" Tubbo sounded so concerned and sad it made Alex feel guilty for leaving him. He hadn't realized the boy could see him just standing there.

"H-hey Tubs, nothings wrong. I just-" he glanced at the man in the doorway who had a strange expression on his face. It was a mixture of pity, sadness, shock, concern and contemplation.

Tubbo followed his gaze and quickly latched onto his dad when he saw the man, "papa?" He squeaked, barely loud enough for Alex to hear, "who's that?"

Alex held his son close and stroked his hair, careful to avoid his horns, "he works at the store," he murmured back.

Tubbo glanced over his dads arm but ducked back when the man gave him a small wave, "did you get in trouble? I'm sorry. I don' need food."

Alex's heart broke, and so did the mans, who had barely heard the last sentence. Alex stood up, and picked up his kid as he did. He held him close to his chest, "I'm not in trouble, but we might not get anything tonight." Alex glanced back at the man before starting to walk away.

"Wait!" Alex turned and saw the man quickly walking towards them. "I-I may not be able to spare anything in my store, but what if I invited you over for dinner? I could get my boys to help prepare something, they aren't the best cooks, but I'm sure-" he stopped when he saw tears in Alex's eyes. "You alright, mate?"

Alex's eyes widened and he wiped away tears with one hand, "y-yeah. And- and we'd love to have dinner with you. Isn't that right, Tubs?"

Tubbo gripped his fathers jacket and nodded shyly. The man smiled gently and gestured behind himself with one wing, "I'll close up shop early and we can head back."

"Thank you so much...?" Alex paused, realizing he didn't know the mans name.

"Phil," the man smiled.

*

Alex walked behind Phil, and Tubbo had his face buried in his fathers shoulder. The sun had gone down and the only light came from the light Phil held. He lead them down a path through a forest and would glance back occasionally. They walked through the forest for about ten minutes before it opened into a wide clearing.

The field was filled with different types of flowers, and had stone paths winding about. In the centre of the field stood a large cottage made of stone and wood. Smoke puffed out of the chimney.

Phil lead Tubbo and Alex down a path and to the door. He turned the knob and light spilled into the darkness. Phil went inside first and left the door open for his companions. 

"Boys! I'm home!" Phil shouted. Alex walked inside and heard multiple pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs. The most obvious pair were loud and fast, like someone was scrambling down the stairs. The others were pretty similar, and sounded like two or three people. 

"Dad!" The fast steps belonged to a young boy. He looked to be about Tubbo's age. He tackled Phil in a hug. Alex noticed he had a strange red glow coming off him.

The other footsteps arrived, and belonged to two boys who looked a few years older than the first boy. They were similar looking, probably twins. They both had short brown hair, and glasses. They also had floppy ears on the top of their head that resembled dogs, or maybe pigs now that they were closer. One of the boys was slightly shorter and stood a bit behind his brother. He also had small tusks coming out of his mouth.

"Hey dad," the one without tusks said. He glanced at Alex and Tubbo and made a confused face, "who're they?"

Phil peeled his smallest son off him and smiled at his guests, "boys, meet Alex and his son Tubbo. They'll be staying over for dinner," he turned to his sons, "Alex, Quackity, these are my sons. This little goblin is Tommy, and those are the twins Wilbur and Techno. Techno is the shy one in the back." Techno glared at his father and seemed to step forward a bit.

Alex could now get a good look at Tommy since he wasn't clinging to his father. He was definitely Tubbo's age, a bit taller than him, but his son was smaller than average. He had yellow hair with glowing red streaks that shifted when he moved, and small red horns sticking out of the fluffy mess. His arms up to just above his elbow were red and also glowed. He had a patch of the same red material peeking out the top of his shirt, going up his neck and covering a bit of his left cheek. His eyes were bright blue with red specks.

Alex waved at the kids, "hey, as you know I'm Alex and this is Tubbo. Say hi, Tubs," Tubbo buried his face further into his fathers jacket. Alex rubbed the kids back and smiled apologetically at the other children, "sorry, he's shy."

Phil waved a hand, "it's alright. This is probably overwhelming for the little guy," he turned to his oldest sons, "Techno, Wil, could you help me prepare dinner?"

Wilbur stuck out his tongue, but headed to what Alex assumed was the kitchen anyway. Techno quickly followed him, muttering something about how he's not a good cook so why should he help.

Phil smiled warmly at Alex, "I'll just be in the next room over if you need me. Tommy, be nice." Phil glared at his youngest son before turning and following the Twins.

Tommy stared silently at Alex and Tubbo for an uncomfortable amount of time. It was like he was analyzing the strangers in his house. His pupils were catlike slits, and combined with the red specks in his blue eyes he had a very strange gaze.

"Why is he hiding?" He finally said.

"Hm?" Alex asked.

"Yer kid, Toob or whatever. Why's he hidin'?"

"Oh," Alex rubbed his sons back, "like I said, he's shy. He's never been around this many people before."

"Does he not have friends?"

Alex was surprised by the kids bluntness, "well-"

"I guess I'll have to be his best friend," he stomped over to Alex and reached up a hand to poke Tubbo, "Tob, we're bes' friends."

"Hey, don't do that," Alex scolded.

Tommy glared at him, "you're not my dad. You're," he glanced at Alex's duck wings, "Quack...ity... Quackity. That's who you are."

Alex glared at the strange hybrid in front of him, "that's not very-" he stopped when a noise interrupted him. Laughter. In his arms Tubbo was laughing. At first it was quiet, but eventually he was shaking and hiccuping with laughter.

Alex stared at his son in shock. He had only seen him laugh a few times. And even then it was when Tubbo was very young. His other dad hadn't liked laughter. He felt tears coming to his eyes and tried holding them back, but they spilled over anyway.

"Are you cryin'" Tommy asked.

Tubbo stopped laughing and turned to his papa with concern. He grabbed his face with his tiny hands and looked him in the eyes, "papa why are you crying? Don't cry."

Alex smiled at his son, "don't worry, bud. They're good tears. Happy tears," he kissed his son on the forehead, set him on the floor and ruffled his hair, "go play with Tommy."

Tubbo still stared up at his papa. He looked so confused. He probably didn't understand how tears could ever be good.

Tommy was getting impatient, "you guys are weird. C'mon, Table," he grabbed Tubbos hand and dragged him up the stairs.

Alex grinned when he heard his son quietly say, "it's Tubbo." He'd never thought he'd see the kid happily playing with other kids his age. He walked over to the couch and sat down. Tubbo's laughter playing over and over in his head.

He decided in that moment he was ready to do anything to make sure Tubbo could laugh like that again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked writing this chapter lol it was a nice change compared to the really sad first one


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi clingytwt also convo between dads :0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW referenced/implied abuse
> 
> A chill kinda happy chapter :)

Tubbo felt strangely calm as the weird boy lead him up the stairs. Usually he hated being touched by anyone but his papa, but this boy (Tommy?) was different. He held Tubbo's hand firmly but not painfully so. It was sturdy, comforting almost.

Tommy lead Tubbo into the first room when they reached the top of the stairs. In the room there was a small bed in a wooden frame with a red, gold and white quilt on it. The floor was cluttered with different pieces of metal and two wooden swords leaned beside the door. Tommy pulled Tubbo onto the bed with him and they sat facing each other.

Tubbo flicked an ear nervously, "um, hello?" he said.

Tommy lifted one of his strange red hands and grabbed Tubbo's ear, "you have weird ears."

Tubbo pushed his hand away and glared at the other boy, "well you have weird arms," he shot back.

Tommy stuck out his tongue and shook his head, "no my arms are cool. Here I'll prove it." 

He slid off the bed and crawled around his room. Tossing aside bits of metal as he went. He made his way over to his dresser and reached underneath. After a bit of scratching, his eyes lit up and he pulled out a small bundle of cloth. Tommy scrambled back up the bed and set the bundle down. He carefully unwrapped it and revealed a small metal tube.

The tube had smaller red cylinders breaking up the metal that looked similar to Tommys red, but they didn't glow. Tommy grinned smugly at Tubbo, "watch this. It'll blow your tiny mind." 

He hovered a hand over the tube before touching one of the metal sections with the tip of one finger. The red bits immediately lit up and glowed brightly, even Tommy's arm seemed to be glowing a bit brighter. Tubbo's eyes widened and he glanced up at Tommy, who's slit pupils had become large and round. 

After about a minute, Tommy stopped touching the metal and the glowing stoped. Tubbo tried touching the tube himself, but nothing happened.

"How'd you do that?" He gasped.

Tommy's smug grin widened and he folded his arms across his chest, "it's my ability as a redstone hybrid."

Tubbo tilted his head, "a what?" he asked.

Tommy looked shocked, hurt even, "you don't know what redstone is?" he gasped when Tubbo shook his head, "it's only the most important ore ever. It can... Well I'm not entirely sure what it does. But I know it's cool and important!"

Tubbo was amazed and his fluffy little tail wagged with excitement, "that's so cool! I'm just a goat hybrid. Nothing special about me."

Tommy furrowed his brow, "well that's just wrong. If you weren't special we wouldn't be best friends."

Tubbo's eyes lit up with joy, "really? You think I could do something cool like your redstone magic?"

"Well... Maybe not that cool, but we'll find you your own thing."

Tubbo grinned and wrapped his new friend in a hug. Both boys were surprised by this. Tubbo by his own boldness, and Tommy that someone was actually enjoying his company.

*

Phil glanced out of the kitchen to see Alex sitting on the couch, crying? Alarm bells went off in his head and he quickly turned to his twin sons, "Will, Tech, I'm gonna go check on our guests. Can I trust you two to take care of the food?"

Wil nodded firmly and Techno grunted in response. Phil smiled gratefully at his kids and ruffled their hair before turning and heading over to Alex.

"Hey, everythin' alright, mate?" he asked.

Alex glanced over and seemed a bit startled, "hm? Oh, yeah. Everything's great," he smiled with what looked like genuine happiness to Phil, "honestly never better."

The two dads stood in kind of awkward silent for a bit before Phil walked over and sat beside Alex on the couch, "so," he started, "sorry if I'm out of line asking this, but are you Tubbo's biological dad? I wouldn't normally ask, but, ah- you two don't exactly look similar."

Alex grinned, "ha, don't worry. You're fine," he adjusted the beanie he wore, "I'm his step dad. I married his bio dad, no idea who his mom is. His dad," Alex rubbed his jacket sleeves nd Phil noticed what looked like bruises peeking out from them, "well his dad wasn't the greatest guy. We... left... two days ago, but my dumbass forgot money so that's why I tried to steal from you. Sorry 'bout that, by the way. I wouldn't normally do something like that, I was just-"

"It's alright, mate. I get it," Phil interrupted gently, "sounds like you two have had a rough time. If there's anything I can do-?"

Alex shook his head, "no, no this is already so much. You really don't need to do more."

"This is the least I can do. At least let me offer you a room to stay in until you have somewhere else to go."

Alex sighed, "we've barely argued yet and I can already tell you won't let this go," a sly grin from Phil confirmed his suspicions, "alright. We'll stay, but you'll need to let me help around the house as much as I want to repay you."

Phil laughed, "don't worry, you'll have plenty to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best work, but it's good enough lol.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too many time skips for one chapter but idcc Also new characters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so just as a heads up everyone's ages in this are f u c k e d. Like a few people have their actual ages and correct age gaps, but most are just whatever I felt like doing lol

It had been fourth months since Alex and Tubbo had run away. Neither of them had so much as thought his name since, and always avoided talking about their time before Phil and his family. Their new friends never pushed for details, and even nosy Tommy had learned to avoid the topic. 

Now Alex and Tubbo were moving into a small cottage they had built near the main house. Phil loved having them around, but there really wasn't enough space. The cottage wasn't much smaller than the house. There were three bedrooms, but Alex knew they would only be using one. Tubbo hated sleeping alone, and Alex couldn't blame the little guy.

"Alright," Phil said. Alex glanced over at the winged man beside him. "Here's your new home!" 

Alex smiled at the man before turning back to the house, "I can't believe you built this for us."

Phil waved a hand dismissively, "ah, don't worry about it, mate. It was easy with my wings, Tommy's red stone and the twins' strength. And with you and little Tubbo helping it went ten times faster. Besides, you two deserve your privacy."

Alex's wings fluttered happily, "geez, Phil. I don't know what I'd do without you."

The man grinned and gently hit Alex with a wing, "you'd be on the streets being a terrible shoplifter. Now come on, let's get you settled in."

Alex smiled and followed the man inside. Phil was such a good dad he had even become kind of a father figure to the younger man. He was just someone Alex felt safe around. Which wasn't something he had felt in a while. He would never be able to express just how grateful he was that Phil caught him stealing those carrots.

Alex didn't have much to move into the cottage. It was really just some clothes and the three toys Tubbo had. Everything else Phil had given them. Alex felt guilty and grateful at the same time. Phil was doing so much for them, and Alex was doing nothing it return. The older man said him helping around the house was enough, but Alex really didn't feel it was.

He stepped into the bedroom he and Tubbo would be using and gazed around. It wasn't the biggest room. Might even be the smallest. But that was ok. Alex and Tubbo would be sleeping in the same bed until Tubbo felt ready to be on his own. If Tubbo felt ready. Alex hoped one day the kid would be able to sleep by himself without waking up crying every night, but he would never force him to. He was ready to share a room with his son for as long as he needed.

*

It had been a year since Tubbo and Quackity had moved into their small cottage. Tubbo and Tommy were now five. Tubbo's horns had grown a bit and now poked out of his hair, but Tommy had stayed pretty much the same. He insisted his own redstone horns were longer, but Phil measured them regularily and knew they weren't. Tommy's nickname had also stuck, and Alex went almost exclusively by Quackity now

Tubbo was now running after Tommy through the field surrounding the houses. Tommy was very far ahead due to being surprisingly fast. Tubbo pushed through the flowers, the tallest of which came up to his chin, and called out for Tommy to wait. Of course the other boy didn't listen, and instead just kept plowing forward.

Tubbo flicked his ears irritably. He was about to shout again when a noise caught his attention. His fluffy ears twitched in the direction the sound had come from. After a few seconds the noise came again. It sounded like... talking... he strained his ears some more, it was multiple people talking, maybe two or three. Almost arguing, but like they were trying to keep quiet.

Tubbo flattened his ears against his head and ran as fast as he could after Tommy. He didn't like strangers, especially angry sounding strangers. Finally he caught up with his friend and latched onto the boy. He wrapped his arms around Tommy's waist and shoved his face into his back. 

"Oi, Tubbo, what's the matter with you," Tommy cried. He lifted his arms and was above to shove Tubbo off, when he noticed the fear on his friends face. He stopped and gently placed a hand on the shorter boys head, "Tubbo?"

Tubbo squeezed his friend tighter and drew in a shaky breath before turning his head a bit, "ov'r there," he muttered. "People. Arguing."

Tommy stared where Tubbo was looking, "s'prolly just," he squinted and noticed two figures in the distance. Neither of them looking like someone living in either of the houses, "uhhh. Come on, big man. We'll go show em who's boss."

Tubbo glanced up at his friend, "o-ok, yeah," he gripped Tommy's hand and stuck close to his side.

As the pair got closer to the strangers, Tubbo gripped more and more of Tommy's arm. Soon he was practically hanging off the boys glowing, red arm. Tommy wouldn't let anyone else do this, but he knew Tubbo needed the support. As the goat hybrids grip continued to tighten, Tommy worried he was pushing him too far.

"Hey, Tubbo, you don't have to do this," Tommy said.

Tubbo stared at the ground for a bit before shaking his head slowly, "no," he lifted his head and looked in the direction of the strangers, "no I can do this." He didn't let go of his friends arm, but he had a much more determined look in his eye.

Slowly they approached the strangers, and eventually Tommy could see them clearly. One was a young girl, older than Wilbur and Techno, but clearly still a kid. The other was a young man, about Quackity's age. Both of them had pointed ears, so Tommy knew they weren't human. That made him a little less wary. If they were also hybrids then they were less likely to harm the two boys. 

Tommy glanced down at his friend. Tubbo's ears were twitched anxiously and his tail was quickly flicking around. He really felt like he was pushing the smaller boy too far, "are you sure you're alright?" Tommy whispered.

Tubbo adjusted his grip on Tommy's arm a bit, "yeah, I'm... I'm alright. I know you'll keep me safe."

Tommy nodded slowly, and looked back at the strangers. The girl looked like she was trying to hide annoyance, and the man was panicked and upset. It sounded like he was mad at himself, and ranting to the girl.

"I swear I've been practicing. I don't- I have no idea how this happened. I've leaped there hundreds of times! Why didn't it work now!" he whisper yelled. 

The girl muttered a series of strange noises, "it's alright, Karl. We'll just go over to that house and ask where we are."

The man, Karl, shook his head, "you know we can't do that. It's too dangerous. They could be hunters, or serial killers, or, or."

"Or normal people willing to help some lost hybrids. But if you won't ask, fine. I will," the girl turned and walked towards the house.

Karl wrung his hands and glanced around nervously before quickly walking after her, "Niki, wait. I'm coming."

Tommy patted his friend on the head and gently pulled his arm out of his grip, "wait here, big man, I'm gonna see what's up."

Tommy ran after the strangers, Karl and Niki. He caught up to them and stood a few metres away from them, "oi! Who're you?"

The two turned around and looked terrified. Tommy folded his arms and stood up as straight as he could. They may have been much taller and older than him, but that wouldn't stop the little redstone boy from making a statement.

"Ah, do you live here?" the girl, Niki asked.

Tommy snorted, "that I do."

"Great! Are your, are your parents around?"

Tommy was about to answer when a familiar voice beat him to it, "that would be I."

Niki and Karl spun around again to see Phil standing behind them. He wasn't obviously threatening them, but his wings were open a bit more than usual and he was standing much taller. Quackity was behind him along with Wilbur and Techno.

"Oh, hello, mr...?" Niki chirped.

"Call me Phil."

"Mr. Phil! I'm Niki and this is my friend, Karl. We're so sorry for disturbing you, but," she glanced at her friend, "he can explain."

Karl sighed, "see, I was trying to open a portal, but something when wrong and we ended up here. I'd open a portal out but I'm out of energy for the day. We were hoping you could give us directions to the nearest town-?"

Phil waved his hand and laughed, "that town'll do ya no good. Most people there don't take kindly to outsiders, and besides, the nearest big town is too far to walk."

Karl deflated, "oh, well that's... a problem," he glanced at Niki, "sorry," he squeaked.

Niki smiled at him, but it seemed strained, "it's alright. We'll figure something out."

Phil glanced at the two with pity. Tommy noticed Wilbur glaring at their dad with a look that said 'don't yoy dare.' The winged man sighed and gestured to his house, "alright come on then, let's get you some food."

Niki and Karl's eyes brightened, "you'd really do that for us? Strangers who basically broke into your yard," Niki gasped.

Phil chuckled, "wouldn't be the first time."

Quackity grinned before glancing around, "hey," he looked at Tommy with a mixture of concern and fear, "where's Tubbo?"

Tommy's eyes widened with shock, "oh shit! I told him to wait!" Tommy turned and ran back to where he had left Tubbo.

Phil scrunched his brow, "where did he learn to swear?"

Techno rolled his eyes and walked towards the house, "no idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was too lazy to proof read this so ignore any typos lol


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Learning about Niki and Karl :)

Tubbo curled against his fathers side on the couch and warily glanced at the stranger across from them. They didn't seem dangerous, and the girl had pretty hair, but Tubbo didn't trust them. He wanted to, but he couldn't.

He looked them up and down. The girl was a big kid. Even older than Wilbur and Techno. She had long, dark hair with blonde strips in the front. Her ears were pointed, and her eyes were black and purple. She also had strange purple sparkles floating around her. Tubbo didn't think she looked scary, aside from her left arm. It was black and her hand was clawed. She caught Tubbo staring at her hand and tugged the sleeve of the pink and white striped shirt she wore over it.

Tubbo tensed and shuffled himself closer to his papa. The boy relaxed a bit when he felt one of his wings wrap around him. He tilted his head a bit to look at the man. He looked the same age as his papa. The man also had pointed ears like the girl, but only one of his eyes was purple and black. Tubbo hadn't seen him blink or even narrow his eyes a bit. That freaked the boy out. The man also had small fangs poking over his bottom lip and long black horns parting his brown hair. He seemed fidgety and uncomfortable, like there were a million other places he'd rather be. Tommy perched on the back of their couch probably didn't help with that.

Wilbur and Techno were stood off to the side. Usually there were small differences to tell them apart, but with the shadows and their identical stances it was pretty much impossible. 

The entire room waited in tense and awkward silence, only the occasional gargle from the girl breaking the silence. Only when Phil returned from the kitchen with two mugs of hot chocolate did someone finally speak.

"Thank you," the girl said. She picked up the mug and the particles surrounding her spiraled around it.

The man smiled uncertainly but didn't move to grab the drink. His eyes darted to Tommy who was still behind him and glaring. Phil noticed where the man was looking and frowned at his son, "Tommy stop that."

Tommy stuck his tongue out at the winged man and scurried off the back of the couch. He scrambled across the room and climbed up beside Tubbo. Phil sighed and smiled apologetically at the strangers, "sorry. He can be a little shit sometimes."

Niki laughed nervously, "oh, it's alright. Isn't it, Karl?" she nudged her friend.

Karl slowly picked up his hot chocolate and nodded, "mhm, all good," his voice was muffled as he spoke while taking a sip of the drink. 

Phil smiled and quickly turned to glare at his son one more time, "great. So, would you kids care to tell us what you're doing in my yard?"

"Well," Karl started, taking another sip from his drink, "like I said, my portal failed and we ended up here. Now I need to rest for a few hours to regain my energy. I really shouldn't have tried such an ambitious portal, but I guess it's too late now."

Phil nodded and pulled over a chair to sit on, "I see," he tilted his head a bit, "now, I'm assuming you two are enderman hybrids, but I've never heard of one who can open portals for other people?"

Karl and the girl glanced at each other, "well, Niki's a hybrid," Karl said, "I'm cursed."

Tubbo twitched his ears and shuffled a bit. Phil's eyes widened and he sat up straighter, "cursed?" he asked.

Karl nodded, "well, we think cursed. I was born human, and about a year ago I just woke up like this. I've got enderman traits, but a few things are different. Like the horns and my portal ability."

"I met Niki and-" Karl seemed to pause and stumble for words like he almost said something he wasn't supposed to, "and we've been travelling together for a few months now."

Niki seemed on nervous, "we're really sorry to have bothered you."

Phil scoffed, "ah, don't worry about it, mate. I'm always happy to help."

Niki smiled gratefully and a bit of tension left her shoulders. She set down her hot chocolate and watched the purple particles swirl for a bit before clearing her throat, "we'll be out of your hair soon. Karl will just need a bit to rest."

Karl's unblinking eyes stared into the distance, "if it isn't too much to ask, could we stay the night? That should be enough for me to at least open us a portal out of here." Tubbo's ears twitched, Karl sounded nervous. The boy was very good at picking up on people's emotions despite his age

Phil smiled gently, "course that's alright," he looked at Quackity, "would it be alright if they stayed with you?"

Tubbo glanced up at his papa who looked uncertain. He tugged on his jacket sleeve before giving a small smile and nodding, "yeah, that'll be no problem."

Niki's eyes lit up gratefully, "thank you so much. I promise we won't bother you."

Quackity chuckled, "don't mention it."

*

Tubbo held himself against his papa's chest and peeked over his shoulder at the hybrids behind them. Karl was really hunched over, like he was trying to make himself seem smaller. Tubbo flicked his ears and lifted his head a bit so he could see more. Karl's wide eyes met Tubbo's goat-like eyes. Tubbo surprised himself by not ducking away. Instead he held the eye contact. Something about Karl's eyes comforted him. Maybe it was how they were so wide and one was so scary, but still seemed gentle, like he wouldn't hurt a fly. Tubbo wasn't sure, but there was something.

Karl cautiously lifted a hand and offered a small wave. Tubbo slowly raised his own hand and wiggled his fingers a bit. He felt his papa move his head to look at Tubbo, "hey, bud, what's up?"

Tubbo glanced back and forth between his papa and Karl. He wrapped his arms around his dad's neck and raised himself a bit to whisper in his ear, "can we go say hi to him?"

Quackity's eyes widened when he heard that. His kid, the quietest and shiest kid he had ever met, wanted to talk to a stranger. Quackity turned to look Tubbo in the eyes, "sure, Tubs. We can go say hi," he whispered back

The man felt his heart swell and warm when Tubbo's brown eyes lit up with joy. He wasn't sure what the kid saw in the enderman-hybrid-cursed-guy, but he wasn't about to disappoint the boy. 

Quackity stopped and turned, he kept his eyes on Tubbo and was surprised to see he didn't try to hid when they were facing Karl and Niki. The duck hybrid waved a bit at Karl and smiled awkwardly, "uh, hey, my kid, Tubbo, wanted to say hi," he laughed and adjusted how he was holding the boy.

Karl smiled and waved at Tubbo, "oh! Hi, Tubbo, is it? I'm Karl," Tubbo waved back and his eyes were bright. Karl laughed gently and Quackity felt a smile tug at his own face. Maybe, just maybe, he could get what Tubbo saw in the enderman-hybrid-cursed-guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this one is a bit short but oh welllll I've been busy lol

**Author's Note:**

> Plz don't send this to any ccs.   
> Also I don't think Schlatt is actually an abusive asshole:// this is an interpretation of his smp character


End file.
